Fox News Network

INTERVIEW WITH DR. PAUL LEVINSON

PROFESSOR AND CHAIR, DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNICATION & MEDIA STUDIES

FORDHAM UNIVERSITY

NEW YORK CITY

BODY:

O'REILLY: In the "Back of the Book" Segment tonight, everybody makes
mistakes. Certainly, I lead the league in that category, but I must confess
I've never stripped in public. A riot would have ensued, and I don't want to
be responsible for that.

In Key West, Florida, a young newswoman named Catherine Bosley entered a
wet T-shirt contest. The problem is Ms. Bosley was also anchoring the news at a
CBS station in Youngstown, Ohio, which promptly accepted her resignation
upon evidence of her frivolity.

With us now is Paul Levinson, chairman of the Fordham University Department
of Communications Study.

Now you think they shouldn't have let her go here?

PAUL LEVINSON, FORDHAM UNIVERSITY: No. People are entitled to have
private lives, and journalists are people.

O'REILLY: Private lives?

LEVINSON: Yes. I mean she should be fired if she failed to do
something in
performance of her profession. Cavorting in a bar late at night has nothing
to do with that.

O'REILLY: All right. It's true in theory, but let's be realistic.
Politicians, news people, clergy all have images, and all depend on the trust
of the public to succeed.

So we have a young woman here who -- anchoring the news, and her pictures
are all over the Internet. Everybody in Youngstown, Ohio, can access them
if they want to, and everything they see now in their mind zeros off those
pictures.

So it intrudes on her ability to communicate the news, does it not?

LEVINSON: Well, I don't think so. I -- you know, I think if you look at
politicians, as you mentioned, JFK had a very promiscuous life.

LEVINSON: ... what matters is their professional performance, what
they did
as president...

O’REILLY: : Look...

LEVINSON: As far as this woman is concerned in Youngstown, what kind
of a
newscaster is she? That's the significant issue.

O’REILLY: : But the -- but the...

LEVINSON: Was she...

O’REILLY: : ... station has an obligation to put on people who are
going to
bolster their news image. This woman, in a community like that
particularly, but in -- I think in any city in the USA, becomes a joke, and,
therefore,
the station becomes a joke, and you can't be a joke if you want to compete
in the news area.

LEVINSON: I think people are more adult than that. I think people
appreciate...

O’REILLY: : Oh, man. Come on.

LEVINSON: ... newscasters who are truthful...

O’REILLY: : ... Professor.

LEVINSON: Yes. I mean, you know, we're not 6-year-old children who
Basically -- you know, if we find out that someone does something ridiculous, we
can't take them seriously.

O’REILLY: : You're living in -- you're living in a theoretical world of
oz
here. Are you aware that in every newscaster's contract, there's a moral
clause that says, if you embarrass the station publicly in any way, they
can let you go. Why do you think that's in there?

LEVINSON: It's a foolish clause. I think -- look, should you be judged
on
what you do in your private life? I think you should be judged on how you
conduct this program.

O’REILLY: : It depends...

LEVINSON: What...

O’REILLY: : This isn't her private life, though. Once...

LEVINSON: What...

O’REILLY: : ... you go public and do something like that, although it's
not
illegal, it embarrasses your employer because your employer operates on
credibility.

Now, if she were behind the scenes, say she were a producer, then it really
wouldn't matter. Nobody would know. I mean -- but she is representing the
station, and she's naked in some sleazy bar in Key West. Come on.

LEVINSON: Well, it's embarrassing to her employer only because...

O’REILLY: : Yes.

LEVINSON: ... her employer allows itself to be embarrassed.

Look, I mean, what's so embarrassing about the human body anyway? It's not
as if she committed a crime.

O’REILLY: : Are you sure you teach at Fordham?

LEVINSON: Yes.

O’REILLY: : Are you sure you're up there with the priests up -- I -- you
know, I -- Professor, I mean, theoretically, sure, in a perfect world, we could
all be naked doing the news, but that is not what news people are here to
do. If Peter Jennings or Tom Brokaw or -- streaked down the Avenue of the
Americas here, they're going to be fired, and you're saying they shouldn't
be. Come on.

LEVINSON: Well, here's the point. Jayson Blair wrote stories for "The
New
York Times" over two years that were filled with lies...

O’REILLY: : Fake.

LEVINSON: ... and plagiarism. It took the "Times" two years to fire
him.
That's something that should be far more serious...

O’REILLY: : I think it is.

LEVINSON: Well, exactly.

O’REILLY: : This woman...

LEVINSON: ... because we have to focus on the way people perform...

O’REILLY: : You can't allow this woman to continue, though.

LEVINSON: ... professionally. Well...

O’REILLY: : You couldn't.

LEVINSON: ... I -- I don't know.

O’REILLY: : No way.

LEVINSON: I've never seen her on the air. Maybe she's...

O’REILLY: : Maybe -- take a year off. Maybe comes back, but those
pictures
are going to haunt her. And you know what? Every young person watching,
remember this, that will haunt you in every thing you do. Don't do it. That's...

LEVINSON: I think we'll probably see her on Fox News in six months.

O’REILLY: : No. We'll probably see her in -- "The Bachelorette" is where
we're going to see her. We're not going to see her on Fox, believe me.

Thank you, Professor.

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